County championships bring out the best in area athletes
Records fall on a rainy day

TO Acorn

By Stephen Dorman [email protected]

An approaching weather front added a sense of urgency to last Friday's Ventura County Track and Field Championships at Moorpark High.

The hint of rain, however, did little to dampen the spirits, or performances, of some of the finest student-athletes in the state.

Invitational meet records fell and multiple-event champions ruled the day during a soggy afternoon in Musketeer Country.

Among the area's biggest winners were La Reina's Tara Blanchard and Royal's Thomas Garner, who each took home three first-place medals.

Blanchard, a county champion in the girls' 400-meter dash (58.35 seconds), 800 (2:21.24) and 4x400 relay (4:00.60), was all smiles after edging Oak Park's Kaycee Holcomb by less than three-tenths of a second in the 800.

"I had a ball out there," Blanchard, a junior, said.

Later on, Blanchard teamed with Kristin Wendel, Hanna Winter and Mary Thompson to claim the girls' 4x400 crown.

Garner, of Royal, started fast by establishing a new meet record in the boys' 110 hurdles. He clocked in at 14.17 seconds, eclipsing the previous meet best of 14.18 seconds set by Ventura's Chris Foster in 2001.

The Highlander junior went on to capture titles in the 300 hurdles (38.98) and long jump (22-04-1/2).

Oak Park's Tayler Johnson earned gold medals in the girls' 100 hurdles (15.26) and long jump (17-10) events.

Oaks Christian's Jules Sharpe was another two-time champion. He was victorious in the boys' high jump (6-6) and triple jump (44-09-3/4).

In one of the afternoon's most anticipated races, Moorpark's Max Dyce steamrolled to a firstplace finish during the boys' 100meter dash in a wind-aided 10.37 seconds.

According to the website DyeStatCal.com, Dyce's mark was the fastest in the state this year. It was also a school record.

"I don't really like running with any wind because it kind of puts an asterisk by my time," said the UCLAbound senior. "Regardless, it's the fastest windaided time in the state, and I'm pretty happy with that."

Shortly thereafter, Dyce went on to claim the boys' 200 title in 21.38 seconds.

The girls' 1,600 race was both thrilling and highly emotional.

Simi Valley's Liberty Miller catapulted herself to an unexpected victory against a starstudded field with the help of a fallen friend and a few latearriving teammates.

Miller, whose former track mate, Amanda Shoemaker, died in a train accident near Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura on April 22, said she was running with a heavy heart in posting a winning time of 4:58.54.

Miller also dedicated the race to a pair of Pioneer runners who missed their events after she lost track of time while they were warming up away from the venue.

"I was running for three people out there," Miller, a junior, said. "Down the backstretch I was thinking, 'Okay, give it everything you've got. Don't think about anything else for today. This is it.'"

Royal junior Travis Edwards dominated the boys' 1,600 by finishing in 4:14.96. He won the same event last year and hopes to have a shot at a three-peat in 2010.

"I look forward to it," Edwards said of the possibility. "That would be a lot of fun."

Melissa Skiba of Oak Park took the girls' 3,200 crown in 10:59.86. Camarillo's Heyden Wooff put on the afterburners late to claim the boys' 3,200 title in 9:15.

The boys' pole vault title went to Agoura junior Ben Wolhaupter, who soared 13 feet, 6 inches in tying his personal-best record.

Wolhaupter, who's also an accomplished wrestler and crosscountry runner for the Chargers, would like to improve by another foot by season's end.

"I set goals in September for all my sports," Wolhaupter said. "For this, it was 146. I'm definitely working toward that, taking things step by step, and it looks like I'm on my way."

Oak Park's Madison Stark and Sierra Mangus of Fillmore both cleared 10 feet in the girls' pole vault final. Another member of the Oak Park team, Kayla Batom, won the girls' 300 hurdles with a time of 45.42 seconds.

Oaks Christian's 4x800 girls' relay squad of Niki MacWhirter, Christina Garcia, Megan Huning and Fallon Cislo set a new meet record with a 10:00.38 mark.

The old meet record, established by Nordhoff in 2003, stood at 10:02.27 before the Lions blew it away.

Westlake's boys won the 4x800 race in 8:24.31. Team members for the Warriors were Scott McAfee, Cole Gauthier, Brian Brousseau and Martin Arreola.

Simi Valley's Steven Semler took first place in the boys' 800 with a time of 1:56.37. Thousand Oaks junior Lydia French won the girls' high jump with a 5-foot, 4-inch leap.

"I wasn't expecting to win because I know how good some of these girls are from being at competitions with them," French said. "But it feels really good. I'm very surprised."

St. Bonaventure's 4x100 boys' relay team and the Rio Mesa girls' 4x100 relay squad both established new meet records. St. Bonaventure also won the boys' 4x400 race.

Other winners include James Short of St. Bonaventure (boys' 400); Rio Mesa's Saraina Hedgepeth (girls' 100 and 200); Ventura's Jordan Paea (boys' shot put); Kristen Wilson of Ventura (girls' shot put and discus); Rio Mesa's Riley Nizdil (girls' triple jump) and Ryan Rosales of Ventura (boys' discus).

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